Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene after being disqualified from Colorado ballot
Colorado's top court disqualified him from the state's Republican primary ballot for engaging in insurrection
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene after Colorado's top court disqualified him from the state's Republican primary ballot for engaging in insurrection leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican 2024 presidentialnomination, is contesting the Dec. 19 Colorado Supreme Courtdecision that disqualified him under a constitutional provisionbarring anyone who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" fromholding public office.
The state's high court had already put its decision on holduntil Jan. 4, stating that Trump would remain on the ballot ifhe appealed.
Trump's filing places a politically explosive case beforethe nation's highest judicial body, whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three of his own appointees. The justices'action will shape a wider effort to disqualify Trump from otherstate ballots as the 2024 election draws closer.
The attack on the Capitol was an attempt by Trump's supporters to overturnhis 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden, whichTrump falsely claims was the result of fraud.
The Colorado court's ruling marked the first timein history that Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment the so-called disqualification clause had beenused to deem a presidential candidate ineligible for the WhiteHouse.
Trump has also appealed a Maine state court decision barring him from the primaryunder the same constitutional provision atissue in the Colorado case.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Republican andunaffiliated voters, and backed by watchdog group Citizens forResponsibility and Ethics in Washington, seeking to bar Trumpfrom the nominating primary and future elections under thedisqualification clause.
Section 3 bars from holding office any "officer of theUnited States" who took an oath "to support the Constitution ofthe United States" and then "engaged in insurrection orrebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to theenemies thereof."
The amendment was ratified in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War of 1861-1865 in which southern states rebelled in abid for secession.
The 4-3 Colorado Supreme Court ruling reversed a lower courtjudge's conclusion that Trump engaged in insurrection byinciting his supporters to violence, but as president, he wasnot an "officer of the United States" who could be disqualifiedunder the 14th Amendment.
The Colorado court concluded that Trump's role instigatingviolence at the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify the resultsof the 2020 election constituted engaging in insurrection, andthat the presidency is covered by the insurrection provision.
"President Trump asks us to hold that Section 3 disqualifies every oath-breaking insurrectionist except the mostpowerful one and that it bars oath-breakers from virtually everyoffice, both state and federal, except the highest one in theland. Both results are inconsistent with the plain language andhistory of Section 3," the majority wrote.
Acknowledging the magnitude of the case, the majority said,"We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law,without fear or favor, and without being swayed by publicreaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach."
Trump's lawyers argued that his speech to supporters on theday of the riot was protected by his right to free speech,adding that the constitutional amendment does not apply to U.S.presidents and that Congress would need to vote to disqualify acandidate.
Courts have rejected several lawsuits seeking to keep Trumpoff the primary ballot in other states. Minnesota's top courtrebuffed an effort to disqualify Trump from the Republicanprimary in that state but did not rule on his overalleligibility to serve as president.